Search

Teocintle is the ancestor of corn, which was first developed thousands of years ago in Mexico or Central America and now dominates world agriculture. I have to say I felt awe on first seeing this little plant in the Jardin Etnobotanico in Oaxaca. It is the basis of the great indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica. It is believed that migrating hunter-gatherers were first attracted not to its grain but to its cane, which is sweet to chew. But when they picked the cane, they inadvertently pollinated the plants. When they returned from their migrations, they found bigger and better plants. Hybridization continued, and eventually the early people began to value the seeds and plant them deliberately. Today, corn in many forms is still the basis of Mexican cooking. But native Mexican corn, and the millions of farmers who grow it, are threatened by subsidized corn imported from the United States under NAFTA, GMO corn varieties brought in by Monsanto, and drought due to climate change and destruction of Mexico’s rich forests.